The Secret Ingredient to Great Coworking Spaces? Smart Access Built into the Blueprint

Long before “Return-to-Work” conversations and enticing employees into offices with easy come-and-go policies, there was this fringe concept of coworking—small, shared, often scrappy spaces where entrepreneurs, small teams, or remote employees gathered for Wi-Fi, coffee, and the occasional human interaction. Then coworking evolved. It grew up, attracted capital, professionalized its offerings—and then, just as quickly, it kind of imploded. But that wasn't the end of the story; the industry weathered the pandemic storm, adapted to the resulting commercial real estate crisis, and it evolved again.
 
Today, coworking isn’t fringe—it’s mainstream. And, while more common and convenient than ever, it’s also infinitely more complex. Coworking spaces aren’t just drop-in offices anymore; they’re highly engineered environments designed to accommodate fluid occupancy, user autonomy, brand experiences, and sustainability goals. For architects and builders, that evolution means something important: access control isn’t an afterthought—it’s an essential part of the member experience and what makes modern cowork, well, work.

Designing for Flexibility and Function

Coworking as an industry is a case study on adaptability. The people using these spaces change day to day, hour to hour. Teams scale up or down. A space might serve as a creative studio in the morning and a boardroom by afternoon. All that fluidity depends on a smart foundation—especially when it comes to how people move through the space.

Traditional keys and antiquated access systems simply don’t hold up in this environment. Lost fobs, aughts-era RFID cards, unmanaged access permissions, and outdated hardware aren’t just inconvenient—they’re operationally inefficient, visually intrusive, and diminish the operator’s brand experience. They create friction—not just for users, but for building managers and, ultimately, owners and  shareholders. For coworking spaces to succeed, they need to be frictionless. Access needs to be dynamic, secure, and almost invisible.

Architects creating the next generation of coworking spaces have an opportunity to reimagine access as a design element. That’s where systems like Salto KS (Keys as a Service) come in. These cloud-native, mobile-first platforms allow users to access doors, lockers, and amenities with a digital key on their smartphone. Access permissions can be granted or revoked in real time, without someone needing to be on-site.

Sustainable, Scalable, Smarter

Coworking spaces are often positioned as greener alternatives to traditional offices. Shorter commutes, shared infrastructure, and efficient space utilization appeal to the climate-conscious ethos of their typical users—Millennials and Gen Z professionals.

Smart access control aligns directly with those values. Digital keys eliminate the need for physical cards or metal keys. Battery-powered wireless locks reduce installation impact and ongoing energy use. And with Salto, sustainability goes even further: the company’s manufacturing operations are powered by 100% renewable energy, and products undergo rigorous lifecycle assessments to reduce their footprint.

For builders focused on green certifications like LEED or WELL, access control is a small spec that delivers outsized environmental value.

Serving More People, Better

Accessibility matters, especially in shared spaces. SALTO’s redesigned keypad wall readers include tactile, audible, and braille cues to serve users with visual disabilities. That’s not just inclusive design—it’s universal design. And it’s another way access control systems are evolving to support a broader range of users without increasing complexity.

For builders and architects, this means specifying products that not only meet code but exceed expectations for usability, longevity and value.